Tuesday, November 20, 2018

A Capital Offense

Leeds Trinity
University in (formerly jolly old) England has taken political correctness to a
new level, hard as that is to believe. The school’s journalism department
issued a memo, obtained byThe Express, instructing
professors and lecturers to avoid various egregious offenses that could be intimidating
or unsettling to students. What are those offenses you ask? Perhaps brandishing
a firearm or using racist language? Au contraire. From the memo:“Despite our best attempts to explain assessment tasks, any lack
of clarity can generate anxiety and even discourage students from attempting
the assessment at all.” While lack of clarity can certainly be frustrating, it
shouldn’t be intimidating-- or an
excuse for not even trying. The direction actually states that professors must
be “explicit about any inexplicitness” in their assignment guidance. Yes, let’s
be clear about any unclarity, shall we? Thank you.

Lecturers are also cautioned to
avoid overusing the words “do” and “don’t.” (Particularly if they are wont to
say, “Men do have penises and women don’t, I’m guessing).

But that’s not all. Educators
are also encouraged to “write in a helpful, warm tone” and to avoid “negative
instructions.” (Even if it aids clarity)?

And, lastly, my favorite
professorial proscription: teachers are told not to use capital letters in any
written lessons or correspondence, because they could “scare” the young
scholars “into failure.”

Countless
numbers of 18-year-olds volunteered for military duty in the past. Farm kids
often drove tractors and worked with threshing machines from the age of 10 or
12. And now our best and brightest collegians are “scared” of capital letters?!

It
is instructive when a school instructs its instructors to treat its students
like sniveling, spineless incompetents.

I have instructions for the students that will
help them in the future, not
virtually guaranty that they are
losers for life: “DON’T BE SUCH
ENTITLED COWARDS. DO REALIZE HOW
BLEEPING LUCKY YOU ARE. NO ONE CAN OFFEND YOU UNLESS YOU LET THEM. OTHER
PEOPLE’S OPINIONS CAN’T POSSIBLY HURT YOU…AND MIGHT EVEN BE RIGHT. SUCK IT THE
HELL UP AND GET ON WITH YOUR LIFE SO YOU CAN BE A CONTRIBUTING MEMBER OF
SOCIETY AND NOT A PATHETIC LITTLE PARASITE.”

Daily Trivia Quiz Answer

Today's Answer: Andrew Jackson. ("Poll" got so worked up before the service he apparently had to be removed from the premises, as he was cussing long and loud).

Q) What words appear on the front of the penny, nickel, dime and quarter, alongside the likeness of presidents?

A) "Liberty" and "In God We Trust"

An Ode To Life

Appreciate all you have, as it- and you- will soon be gone. Leave no heartfelt words unspoken, no sweet gesture incomplete, no act of love undone. Love your spouse with passion and abandon, your kids with patience and understanding but also a firm guidance. Love also the truth, no matter how hard. If pursued by enough people with enough courage, it really will set us free.

And don't forget, we didn't ask to be born. We didn't create ourselves. We are not gods. There is a higher power.

Fireworks of the Mind

Write It Up

Whence Shall Come Another?

True Then, True Now

"If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory is sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves."- Winston Churchill

Time Well Wasted

The power lies within your hands To do with what you may But the hourglass is filled with sands Of endless yesterdays